One day, while visiting one of our grandchildren, an 8-year-old, I stepped out the back door to locate her. She was perched snuggly up in an oak tree, reading; as if that’s where everyone might choose to spend their afternoon…

It was probably 1947 – a very long time ago in any case. It was my first day in first grade – and my class had ceremoniously paraded from the room for the kindergarten to the first-grade room to mark the moment. We were all asked to sit in a circle…

If you’re like most people, you probably made some new year’s resolutions – changes you wanted to see in your life. Research shows it takes around 90 days to forge lasting change, so perhaps by now you’re well on your way to making…

We’ve all been told that we have a life purpose or calling. How many of us really know what that is? I’ve spent much of my life on my journey of discovery, but it wasn’t until after I retired from my vocation that I finally discovered my calling…

When I was a young chick (admittedly a long, long time ago), I used to love listening The Who singing “Hope I die before I get old” and used to be in complete agreement with that sentiment. Well, the passing of time changes everything…

I graduated in 1973 from a small Catholic high school. I was young for my age, ill prepared to be rubbing elbows with girls who drove Jaguars and brand new Camaros to school, had streets named after their fathers and felt little to no use for me…

If theater is about the suspension of disbelief, then puppetry is a double suspension of disbelief – the story is told not by an actor, but by a doll or costume controlled by a puppeteer. Done well, it works in a magical way. The creative skill…

Years ago, I coined the term ‘cheap luxury’ in my household, but I think it is a good time to spread it around. See if you think it has meaning for you. The term first arose, if I am not mistaken, over a jar of mustard. We were in a supermarket…

Do you realize that most of us think with the end in mind? Remember when you began and completed a recent project? It could have been reorganizing your kitchen cupboards, finishing a quilt, or cleaning the house…

My friend, Marcia, is a vigorous woman in her early 80s. Thirty years ago, she moved into an apartment on Manhattan’s upper East side. Last year, I visited her place for the first time. There were bars outside her ground floor windows…